[notfarnow]

I love the idea.

As much as I admire beautiful and impeccably maintained 911s, I have a real soft spot for beaters and bastards.

If... no, when... I get a 911 I will be FAR more likely to get one that is rough enough to drive year-round. There's something about seeing the 911 silouette under a foot of snow that just weakens me.

I've actually thought about this A LOT, and here's what I imagine for my 911 beater:
- Coupe, no sunroof (I know, tall order but I hate the thought of leaks)
- Black, but really any color other than white will do, because white shows the rust SO much worse
- Studded winter tires on steelies. Fuchs are nice but steelies mean business
- Ski rack. I haven't skied since grade 11, but I think I'd start.
- Rust Check, Ziebart or Krown rustproofing every fall, then touched up a couple times over the winter (you can buy rust check formula by the gallon)
- Carrera, I'd really prefer a 3.2
- 84-87 with the "wife deterrent" 915


Speaking of REALLY cool winter cars... when I lived in Montreal there was a robin egg blue MGA Coupe that I'd see downtown in the winter, on studded winter tires with a little luggage rack on the trunk. You could see the black rustproofing along the seams and door bottoms, so the owner was obviously very serious about using this car as a winter beater. It was SOO cool... among all the generic sedans and SUVs, every now and then you'd see the gorgeous profile of an MGA. I never, ever saw that car in the summer.

One bleak, snowy afternoon I stood by the art gallery on St Catherines for 20-30 minutes, as snow blanketed the car, hoping that the owner would come out so I could chat with him. I got too cold and gave up.

And now that I think of it, when I was in Montreal last January to buy my Benz, I saw two (count 'em... TWO!!) 911s driving out in the snow when I was driving into town at almost 2am. Sure looked like fun